Eric Musselman opens up on the difficulty of Trevon Brazile's season-ending injury

Arkansas’ season took a big hit earlier this week with the news that transfer forward Trevon Brazile would miss the rest of the season following a torn ACL he suffered against UNG Greensboro. He was a big get for Eric Musselman this offseason in the portal and it was paying off in his play through the first nine games for the Hogs. Now, it’s on Musselman to both look after Brazile while also finding his replacement in the lineup.

Musselman opened up on Brazile’s injury during his press conference on Thursday. He said that, right now, the most important thing would be for his program to rally around Brazile. As he prepares himself for surgery, Musselman wants the staff and remaining roster to support him so that he maintains the right mindset.

“The biggest thing is just trying to support (Trevon). Just a little bit ago (I was) with he, his dad, and the trainer. And (we were) just kind of going through timelines. He’ll get a chance to meet with the surgeon tomorrow. (Then) figure out an exact date of when the surgery will happen. And we want him to be around the team as much as he possibly can be,” said Musselman. “He was already in this morning getting with our trainer…(We’re) more concerned with him being in the right mental frame and being okay as much as a player can be. I think that’s the biggest concern.”

Brazile came to Fayetteville this summer after spending last season at Missouri. He started his college career averaging 6.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks on 53.4% shooting for the Tigers. Brazile then hit the portal and has flourished with the Razorbacks as he averaged 11.8 points and a team-high six rebounds off the bench.

With this coming off the heels of freshman Nick Smith Jr.’s injury, Musselman felt disheartened at the fact that now his team will never truly be 100% healthy this season. However, he says this unfortunate news for Brazile is now an opportunity for someone else to step up. All he can do now is hope that they will as Brazile begins his rehab.

“When we built the roster, he was a big part of how we wanted to play with his versatility. It’s obviously a huge blow to us. But these things happen in athletics and we’ve got to figure out how we move forward,” Musselman said. “It’s a shame that this ball club will only really have one game together that it was fully healthy. That’s not going to change. That’s just going to be a fact for the entire year.”

“Somebody’s going to get a new opportunity, or a couple of guys are, and then we just have to hope that guys play well.”